An international team of researchers involving the University of Adelaide is tackling the controversy over what some scientists consider to be a "harmful" hormone, arguing that it could be a game changer in the fight against ...

While it is well established that obesity is closely linked to endometrial cancer risk, most past findings have only looked at risk in relation to one measure of body size at a time. In this study led by the Cancer Prevention ...

Dear Mayo Clinic: I just turned 30 and recently was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I'm wondering about whether it can be cured or if I will have to take medication for the rest of my life. I've read the Autoimmune ...

A new study has found that women have better brainpower after menopause if they had their last baby after age 35, used hormonal contraceptives for more than 10 years or began their menstrual cycle before turning 13.

African-American and Latina women have a higher accumulated stress level than Caucasian women, but a new study found that less than half the differences could be explained by expected factors such as poverty, neighbourhoods, ...

A person exposed to stress can usually rapidly adapt the own behavior to the specific situation. Biochemical messenger substances in the brain or so-called neurotransmitters play a central role in this rapid transformation ...

Hormone

Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus") are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones; plant hormones are also called phytohormones. Hormones in animals are often transported in the blood. Cells respond to a hormone when they express a specific receptor for that hormone. The hormone binds to the receptor protein, resulting in the activation of a signal transduction mechanism that ultimately leads to cell type-specific responses.

Endocrine hormone molecules are secreted (released) directly into the bloodstream, while exocrine hormones (or ectohormones) are secreted directly into a duct, and from the duct they either flow into the bloodstream or they flow from cell to cell by diffusion in a process known as paracrine signalling.